Nearly All Kids a Gamer: Study

What is the "Pew Internet & American Life Project"? Who sponsors them? Why was this study done? In other words, what is the agenda? What kind of research study result is "virtually all"? What are the figures? Based upon what? I know that we are too smart to believe this very broad generalization summary.

I don't think that anyone having or playing a video game makes them gamers.

"Gamers" are hard core and rank at the top of their game and the others know the game inside and out including making games and as far as gamers go anyone else less than them are just "noobs."

The Pew Internet & American Life project appears to be based out of Washington DC and is an "initiative of the Pew Research Center..."

http://www.pewinternet.org/about.asp

... which is itself a nonprofit “fact tank”...

http://pewresearch.org/

... funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts, which don't reveal the "diverse range of donors, public and private organizations and concerned citizens" who fund their efforts...

http://www.pewtrusts.org/program_investments....

Or at least that's what my cursory efforts at researching these entities revealed. I don't normally rely on Wikipedia, but they do appear to have the goods on where some of the money came from that runs it all -

"The Trusts, a single entity, is the successor to, and sole beneficiary of, seven charitable funds established between 1948 and 1979 by the adult children of Sun Oil Company founder Joseph N. Pew and his wife, Mary Anderson Pew."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pew_Charitable_T...

"Gamers" in common usage is probably a lot closer to what In Real Time says it is. Most people that play games can more correctly be termed "casual gamers." One of the largest groups of casual gamers are middle-aged women, as "gaming" includes online card games.

It does not surprise me in the least that these figures in the relatively small sampling came up as high as they did. Since it included cell phone and hand held consoles, it makes sense that teens would play games on these while waiting at the bus stop, riding in a car, etc.

Playing games is not the big, scary thing that many people make it out to be. Sure, people can get addicted to the escapism games offer, but most of us "gamers" play for fun, social interaction, etc.